Hi jmarkk1,
The first place I would start your research is the mattress shopping tutorial here which has all the basic information, steps, and guidelines that can help you make the best possible choices … and know how and why to avoid the worst ones.
There is also more about the most important parts of the “value” of a mattress purchase in post #13 here that can help you make more meaningful comparisons between mattresses.
The most important part of the “value” of a mattress purchase is the suitability of a mattress in terms of PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) because if a mattress isn’t a good match for you and you don’t sleep well on it then it would have little value to you regardless of the price. When you are buying a mattress online that you can’t test in person to make sure that it’s a suitable choice for you then one of the most important parts of a successful purchase is a more detailed conversation with a knowledgeable and experienced retailer or manufacturer that sells it and that has your best interests at heart that will provide you with some good guidance (rather than just selling you any mattress you are willing to buy from them) so that you have a better chance of making a choice that you will sleep well on.
The Dreamfoam mattress is also described as being similar to the Tempurpedic Cloud Supreme in terms of comfort and support so you can test a local mattress to get a better sense of whether it would be suitable for you while the Dynasty mattress doesn’t list another mattress that is comparable that you can test locally.
If you aren’t confident that a mattress will be a good “match” for you then the exchange or return policies will play a much more important role in the “value” of a purchase so that if the mattress you buy doesn’t work out as well as you hoped for that you still have good options available to exchange or return it. The return costs with the Dynasty could be very costly because once the mattress has decompressed you would need to return it with a common carrier (not a courier) which can be very costly and you would be responsible for the shipping costs.
If you purchase the Dreamfoam mattress from the Dreamfoam site (rather than Amazon) then you would have an additional 10% discount and you would also have the benefit of their 45 day comfort guarantee (the return cost is only $99 including return shipping).
Medium firm and soft are both very different comfort levels so a mattress would either be one or the other. There are also no standardized firmness ratings between manufacturers so a mattress that is rated as “medium firm” with one manufacturer may be rated as a “medium” or a “firm” by another manufacturer. Firmness is also very subjective and relative to each person so what feels too soft for one person can feel too firm for someone else (or vice versa) depending on their body type, sleeping positions, and preferences and sensitivities. The only way to know how firm or soft a mattress feels for you would be based on your own personal testing or sleeping experience regardless of how anyone else may rate it. Only you can feel what you feel on a mattress (see mattress firmness/comfort levels in post #2 here).
Outside of PPP … a mattress is only as good in terms of durability as its construction and the quality of the materials inside it (see this article). The Dreamfoam mattress uses 4 lb memory foam and a 1.5 lb base layer and for most people that aren’t in a higher weight range (more than the low 200’s or so) it wouldn’t have any weak links in the design and would be good quality/value relative to its price range.
The Dynasty doesn’t include the density of the foams that it uses in the Amazon description so I would make sure you find out the density of all the layers before considering it (see this article)
The Dynasty is also made in China which means that the quality/durability of the materials are more uncertain than materials that are made in North America (such as the Dreamfoam) and it’s durability could also be affected by any fillers that are used in the foam or how long the mattress was compressed during shipping and storage (see post #6 here).
You can read more about Dynasty in posts #3 and #4 here and a forum search on dynasty (you can just click the link) will bring up more information and feedback about them as well.
Dreamfoam is one of the members of this site which means that I think very highly of them and I believe they compete well with the best in the industry in terms of their quality, value, service, and transparency.
The “bottom line” is that IMO the Dynasty would be a much more “risky” choice than the Dreamfoam both in terms of suitability and durability and the options you would have after a purchase if your choice doesn’t turn out as well as you hoped for.
Phoenix